Bladesurge
by RoadWild
Summary: Concept: Kid Win and Armsmaster switch places in time. Now, Colin Wallis is a newly triggered Tinker trying to explore his powers in Brockton Bay.
1. Chapter 1

Colin quietly drew shapes and calculations in his notebook as his teacher droned on about some topic or another. It was a late Friday afternoon, and almost every other student was similarly off task. Though he was normally attentive in class, his drawing took far higher priority. Covertly covering his notebook, Colin continued to draw details of a halberd.

A strange sort of.. knowledge appeared in his head a few days before. It.. it wasn't a good time. His parents were fighting yet again in the living room when he had returned from school, and he tried to ignore the repeated calls for divorce being levied. School was yet another struggle in futility as he tried to prove himself in academics, but his achievements and scores didn't even garner a look from his parents. His best friend, well really, his only friend, was depressed and no matter what he did he just couldn't help her. He had previously convinced her to try and talk with her counsellor, but she constantly said that the school's "Mental Health" counsellor was the definition of unsuitable. Colin had to console her several times when her counsellor had nothing more to say other than "Pick yourself up" or "Don't let yourself be unhappy". His.. trigger, the official term for it, was when his friend admitted to hurting herself. He felt as if he had failed her, failed everything, when he heard that.

When the ideas began to appear in his head, Colin tried to put them to paper. When he realised what he was drawing, he knew what he was.

As a Tinker, Colin would be particularly enticing to the other gangs in the city. He may not have the immediate power other parahumans would have, but given time he could possibly outperform them all. Already his mind danced with all the possible designs he could make. All he needed was time and resources. Time and resources.

His apartment was a rather poor Tinker's workshop, but he didn't want to risk his tools being discovered by anyone else. At least in his home he could try and control what gets discovered. Colin guessed that maybe a few tools wouldn't be treated with suspicion, such as a pair of pliers or a screwdriver. He could try and join his school's robotics club to try and add authenticity. But the main issue would be trying to hide whatever weapon or armor he built. It wasn't as if he could hide it under his bed, or in his closet. The only choice he had was to try and keep whatever he built small and easily disguisable.

Disregarding the issue of covert storage, the largest issue at hand was finding materials to work with. He researched online that for Brockton Bay, going to a junkyard was akin to waving a neon board at a gang announcing that you were a Tinker. Dumpster diving was similarly dangerous if you were caught, and buying large quantities of electronics or otherwise similar material at a store would get reported to the Protectorate. He could either risk exposure by going to a junkyard or he could grit his teeth and make do with what he had right now. Which was a whole load of nothing.

He knew what he had to do.

Well, until after he got out of class.

* * *

Today was the day Colin would try to scavenge something from the Trainyards. Yes, it could potentially put a target on his back. But if he kept his face hidden with a hastily resewn jumper arm he could possibly keep his identity secret. It was flimsy, but he had to try build something. Hopefully nobody would be keeping a close eye during the weekend.

After hours of trawling through the Trainyards while his bag remained empty, Colin couldn't help but feel this was a mistake. This was supposedly a 'prime' area for finding scrap material but all he had found was little more than trash. With a huff, Colin threw his bag down as he stopped for a short rest. He had packed a few snacks and water bottles, but was careful not to leave any traces behind.

His short rest was interrupted by the clank of metal boots hitting the top of the train car he was resting on. Colin damn near dropped his sandwich as he hastily grabbed at his mask/bandanna(?) to try and hide his identity. He froze when he heard a deep toned voice say "You know, when my relays pinged that somebody was searching around the Trainyards for a few hours, I was pretty hopeful that it was going to be another Tinker. You that?"

Colin had done his research. Colin had done his research and more. He could recognize the voice of Advance, the Eastern Coast's foremost Tinker. He-he hadn't even considered the possibility of meeting him, let alone the worse realization that he didn't consider the possibility that other tinkers would have set up some sort of alert system. Colin started to move back, stuttering "N-n-no-no just a nobody-nobody really I swear"

There was a laugh, and Colin saw the crimson-armored hero jump down to the earth. The hero raised his hand towards Colin and said "I'm pretty sure it's you now. How about we go for a walk?"

* * *

Colin nervously glanced between the gravel path and the hero walking next to him. So far no words had been spoken, but Colin was terrified that somewhere in the bushes was a camera ready to reveal his identity to the world. Just as he was discreetly looking around, Advance said "I'm pretty sure the Wards haven't received any new recruits recently so you're definitely independent. Hero or Villain?" At Colin's confused stuttering, the man dismissed his question, saying "Eh. For now it doesn't really matter. Let me guess, first week being powered? Second maybe?"

Colin swallowed and tried to compose himself, but ended up just making the silence go on too long. Hastily trying to fill the gap, Colin choked out "Just the first week. I've been trying to make sure I'm not, like, crazy you know?"

Advance let out a amused breath, then said "Well, let me tell you I've seen perfectly normal Tinkers do some crazy things after not working for a while. Even I've gone through a few Tinker fugues. From your clothes I think you're just trying to get some scrap together so you can get some of the ideas out of my head. Is that right?"

Colin's back stiffened at the scarily accurate guesses from the hero, but tried to calmly reply. "Yea. I thought the Trainyard would have some good stuff but all of it was just trash. Wasted a few hours for nothing."

Advance shrugged, and consoled him by saying "Every Tinker goes through a dry spell. I'm not going to pressure you, but the Protectorate can give you some pretty crazy resources if you ask nicely."

Colin tried not to stare at the decorated Tinker's high-grade armor and instead focus on the conversation. "I'm just trying to keep myself from going crazy with all these ideas in my head. I don't want to go out and fight."

The Protectorate hero coughed and said "Well kid, I'll be honest a lot of times the crazy will come to you. Doesn't matter what day it is or how prepared you are, if trouble's coming then it'll come."

Colin tilted his head and asked "Is that it? Not like, which gangs to avoid or tips on getting materials? All that's going to happen is that I'm going to die?"

Advance balanced a miniature drone on a fingertip as he slowly answered. "Well, that's just easy. Don't fight Lung, or pick a fight with the Downtown Punks. Don't search the Trainyard or the bigger junkyards, they only have trash."

At Colin's bewildered look, Advance sighed and said "Kid, a lot of being a cape _and_ being a Tinker is knowing when to pick your battles. I can fight most fights because I have the resources, time and plans to back me up. For you? Not so much. You're a good kid. I could rattle off statistics about independent parahumans but I think you've already got the idea."

The hero's tone turned sombre and said "I've met a lot of amazing people over the years who just didn't know when to stop. They destroyed themselves while trying to be a hero, villain, whatever. Don't let yourself become another name."

The rest of the walk went on in silence, Colin deep in thought while Advance simply enjoyed the scenery. When they reached the entrance of the Trainyards, Advance turned to Colin and said "Watch yourself, alright? We're pretty lucky that we didn't run into Trainwreck or whatever out here. Don't get yourself killed while searching for parts. See you later kid."

Colin was left staring as the crimson hero flew away. Even though his bag was empty and the sun was close to setting, all he could think was-

_I can also do that one day._

**AN:**

…

Look, it's not like I _meant_ to leave Apotheosis to work on a new fic idea.

This idea popped into my head after writing a snip and I just _had_ to put it to paper.. er bytes  
Heh, whoops?


	2. Chapter 2

Colin hurriedly skittered back to his apartment, trying to avoid other passerby's gazes. He had stood transfixed by Advance's departure while trying to figure out how exactly the man's armor worked but was rudely interrupted when a stranger asked if he had been talking to the hero. Colin panicked and ran away, well aware that it made him look even more suspicious. The man had called after him, but Colin was glad he still had his impromptu mask up. There was no way his face could have been seen.

His mind was flowing with even more ideas after seeing Advance's armor in person, captivated by the miniature robots which occasionally moved across Advance's armor and his empowered jump. Even though Colin didn't salvage any materials to work with, he had been rewarded with something far more valuable. Inspiration. As Colin fumbled with his keys while standing in front of his door, Colin tried to decode the designs appearing in his head. He couldn't exactly put it into words, but he felt several of his designs were slowly changing. As if they were already being revised for a new iteration before being built. He was puzzled but walked into his home. He had to write this all into his Tinkering notebook.

The next day Colin woke up abnormally early. His room was still dark, and he could hear no noises from around his house. Normally his father would be up at such an hour, old army habits ingrained into his very soul, but he had either been drinking or-well, probably just drinking, last night and so he wouldn't wake up into mid-afternoon.

Aside from church, Colin had no other events scheduled for that day. He debated the merits of visiting one of the smaller junkyards, as Advance had suggested, but he decided against testing his luck a second time. God knows who he would run into this time. Aside from noting down whatever random idea he had, Colin spent the entire day doing homework and listening to music.

* * *

School was once again an entirely boring affair. He had taken comparatively easy courses this year. Though Colin rarely had to pay studious attention, he still observed decorum and took sparse notes. He continued to hide his notebook from other students, enough so that it became a running joke that he was drawing something lewd. Annoyed, Colin chose an innocuous equation and challenged them to find one thing scandalous about that.

The next day Colin was approached by a representative of the robotics club, asking him to join. Annoyed, though glad that he didn't have to try and find the club on his own, he accepted. He found out that aside from a yearly regional competition the school's robotics team was essentially just a social club. Since he had joined relatively late compared to other club members, his role would simply be as an intern.

* * *

Finally, came another weekend. Though Colin was still apprehensive about running into another person or even a villain, he forced himself to go. His urges to build something were only growing stronger, and Colin knew that unless he wanted to give a definite sign that he was a Tinker by dismantling the microwave or something similar, he would have to risk being seen. This time around he was slightly more successful, coming across a small box full of old computer displays and keyboards. It was quite heavy, making carrying it back a real pain. But once his hands began to automatically dismantle and salvage electronic parts Colin knew it was worth the pain.

The same routine occurred for the next few weeks: doing his best to tolerate school, spending the weekends salvaging material from the junkyards and then doing his best to pull it apart. There had been several close calls where he had nearly been detected, but Colin's dark-coloured hoodie and mask let him blend into various junk piles far better than he had believed.

His own Tinkering had been fruitful, efficiently dismantling his salvages, carefully picking out whatever materials he believed could be reused, and then disposing of the rest by hiding them at the bottom of a neglected dumpster. His own building and design had finished, and Colin was glad that he could hold some physical proof of being a Tinker. A pair of gloves which could control and command a small procession of blades. It was nowhere near as large as the halberd which had dominated his earlier thoughts had been, and it was easy to dismiss the gloves as a new fashion trend. The blades themselves had a small host of tricks and supplementary designs; he had been able to build a surprising amount of additional weaponry and effects into them, something he suspected may be his specialty may be.

One particular weekend had Colin exploring the Trainyards. Though he entertained the possibility of running into Advance again Colin knew that that alone would be a long stretch. He had started to bring his gloves and blades with him once he had made sure that no glitches would occur and accidentally amputate himself. They would intuitively follow his motions, which would serve as a powerful hand-to-hand supplement and even function as a medium-ranged weapon.

Colin had just dug up a promising pile of rusted metal when he heard heavy stomps coming from his side. His head whipped up, and had his worst suspicions confirmed when he saw what, or rather who, it was. Trainwreck, the very villain who Advance warned him about several weeks prior, was rapidly approaching him.

Colin dropped the potential salvage he had picked up, and quickly pulled out his blades. His hands shook slightly as he pulled on his gloves but turned to face the Case 53. The man/thing/blob(?) was bellowing about Colin trespassing on his territory, though due to the loud steam being vented from the Case 53's power suit much of it was incomprehensible. Colin dropped into a fighting stance he had seen being thrown around at school and was surprised when he heard the Case 53 begin to laugh raucously.

"HAH-HAH! What the hell was that!? HAH"

Colin felt extremely self-conscious, and yelled back, "Shut up! I don't have the fancy martial-arts training other people might have but I can still fight!"

Trainwreck continued to laugh, booming in-between gulps of air, "You call that a fighting stance? I've seen idiots kicked between the legs have better stances than that!"

Colin immediately changed his footwork, feeling incredibly embarrassed. This was the first time he had ever heard of being laughed at by villains. Face turning red, Colin challenged Trainwreck, yelling, "Are you going to fight me or not?"

The steampunk Tinker's face scrunched up into a rough approximation of what would be a thinking expression on any other person's face. After a short pause, then the Case 53 said "Eh. You made me laugh pretty hard. I won't kill you today. Beat it, kid"

Embarrassed, disgraced, and red-faced, Colin stomped home. If that villain thought Colin was a pushover, then he would show him!

Angered, Colin began design of a shield belt which could redirect kinetic energy and hopefully reroute Trainwreck's punches. He wasn't sure if his flying blades could pierce through the Case 53's heavy armor, so he began researching possible effects he could build into his blades which would help them pierce harder. Though he wasn't sure if he could finish the shield with the materials he had today, the next time he ran into Trainwreck he swore he would make the man regret his words.

* * *

Advance worked in his workshop, thinking of several methods which could be used to nail some of the harder threats in the city. His anti-Lung protocol, expletive non-withstanding, was still untested against the great Dragon and he was unsure whether or not the continuous fire could properly take down the high-level Brute. Several other unfinished diagrams were displayed on nearby screens, alongside profiles of other villains. Names such as the Downtown Punks or the Undersiders floated by, alongside threat assessments and profiles.

Pausing during his Tinkering, Chris leaned back and thought to himself about that young man he had met several weeks prior. He had closely monitored PRT channels for any mention of a new Tinker, heroic or otherwise, for the past few weeks, but had heard nothing of the sort. Either the kid really was just a random kid, or he had stronger survival instincts than Chris had realized. This afternoon, his drones had picked up a single person going into the Trainyards and scavenging. Chris refocused the drones on the scavenger and was rewarded when he saw a familiar hoodie and jumper arm-scarf. Unfortunately, he didn't see Trainwreck stomping towards the potential Tinker until it was nearly too late. He was hurriedly reconfiguring his drones to try and distract Trainwreck until he saw the trespasser pull out a series of blades. His heart jumped into his throat when he realized they were going to fight, alongside the confirmation of the kid being a Tinker. He was putting on his fastest armor when he received a ping that the conflict had ended before it had even begun, with Trainwreck laughing at the younger Tinker's fighting stance and dismissing him. Chris groaned when he saw the fighting stance and agreed that the kid was essentially harmless. Though the series of floating blades hovering around the kid's body was pretty cool, Chris could see the kid was scared out of his mind.

Chris jotted a few notes into the prospective tinker's file, uploading the clearest pictures he could find of the blades, and then returned to Tinkering. The ball was in the kid's court now.


	3. Chapter 3

Colin's head slammed into his desk, uncaring of anybody's stares or how hard the table was. His research into piercing effects had hit a hard wall, where either his power refused to offer any solutions or any online research mentioned some sort of sonic attack. Furthermore, his personal shield belt idea began to appear extremely expensive, demanding materials that Colin knew would immediately alert people he was a Tinker.

Even worse, his parents' arguments were only growing in intensity and emotion. Even if he stayed afterschool until the gates were being locked and he had to beg the groundskeeper to let him through, he still came home to heated arguments and passive-aggressive behaviour. None had spilled over to him, yet, but Colin still didn't enjoy hearing it.

School had been painful, his days dragging on with nothing but his halfway finished ideas to torment him. All of his classes were currently project-based, so asides from generally keeping in pace with the rest of his class Colin could dedicate the bulk of his free time to working on his Tinkertech. Though no new ideas were coming to him, Colin continued to produce more of his smart blades. He was considering somehow linking the blades together to make a whip of some sort, though it would essentially negate the entire floating and segmented aspects of the weapon.

His teacher began to talk about biology, and Colin automatically tuned him out. His ear instead turned to his fellow students, wondering what exactly was the latest ongoings. He rolled his eyes when he heard mostly gossip about other students but continued to listen in. His patience was rewarded when slowly, the conversation shifted to the darker aspects of the city. Though Arcadia was nowhere near, say, Winslow in levels of gang influence, gang activity was still a harsh reality every student had to face. After all, what good was idealistic values and trust pacts when a white skinhead waved a shotgun in your face?

His sketching and calculations slowed as he tried to catch the quieter details being bandied about. Colin took sparse notes on anything he thought was important. Asians grouping together nearer and nearer to the Lord's Market, skinheads growing bolder as supposedly the Empire Eighty-Eight received several parahuman recruits. He wrote at the very top of his page: "PLACES TO AVOID". He wasn't trying to kill himself, thank you very much.

* * *

Colin had printed out a general map of Brockton Bay, and marked out where junkyards and landfills were located. He also marked several popular social spots to throw off his parents. He marked several paths to and back, not fully satisfied until he had two backups for every route and had memorized them. He was now fairly familiar with nearby junkyards, making multiple trips during the weekends to gather materials. Unfortunately, his scavenging was fruitful enough that storage was becoming an issue. More than once now had Colin had to quickly make some excuse up when his mother asked him what a certain piece of junk was for. Robotics Club was a common excuse, but he knew that it wouldn't hold forever. He had explored several abandoned warehouses in the Docks, but every time Colin ventured into the area he was in constant fear of feeling a knife in his back or hearing a bestial roar in the distance.

Early in the afternoon, Colin continued on his search for a new lair-uh, base of operations. He couldn't stop himself from referring to the potential base as the Tinker-cave, but he swore never to speak such an embarrassing name aloud. He had gone through a few warehouses, though he had to reject all of them due to some combination of poor security, lack of utilities, or failing basic cleanliness. Seriously. Some looked like they haven't been opened in years, let alone cleaned. The current one he was exploring held promise, as there were no holes in the walls, nor were there any visible mildew or asbestos. Brockton Bay was not known for following building codes.

Just as he was checking under a few stacked boxes, Colin heard cars pull up outside. Colin froze as all his worst nightmares became reality. Being forcefully recruited into a gang and made to build weapons raged in his mind as he searched fruitlessly for a back exit. He considered breaking a window or cutting his way out when he heard a coarse voice outside. "What the hell are you bastards doing here? This is Empire territory! Get the hell out!"

A vaguely-accented voice called back, somehow even more incomprehensible, threatening "This is ABB territory, white boy! Better run away before the Dragon comes to take your hides!"

There was a sharp laugh, then a massive gust of air. The light shining through the windows darkened. Even inside the warehouse Colin could feel the winds being blown about. After a short while, the massive gusts of wind died down and all was silent. Then, the coarse voice commented, "Jesus, Othala. When you said you could boost powers you really fuckin' meant boost, huh?"

There was a short applause, quieting down only when the coarse voice, now most likely to be Stormtiger, commanded "Alright, we blew the chinks out of the street. Now let's _mark_ our claim, shall we?"

Colin quietly commented to himself, "Holy hell," and pulled out a small chain. With a hand gesture, Colin activated the blades and made a small ring around his body. Going out the front door was now out of the question.

Colin snuck to the very end of the warehouse, where he hoped that nobody would be able to hear him. He faced a wall and directed his blades to follow his hand. He touched several points on the wall which vaguely corresponded to his body, and hoped that his haphazard coding would work. He made a fist.

The blades immediately shot forward, digging into the wall and creating a terrible screeching sound. Once sufficiently dug into, they began to cut out the segments between each point Colin had marked, effectively making a hole in the wall. Colin pushed the now disconnected wall, and frowned when it didn't budge. He stepped back to see what he had messed up, then groaned when he realised he didn't link the bottom. Colin corrected his mistake and tried once more. This time, he was rewarded by the now disconnected section falling forward. And then the sound of the entire wall groaning. _Fuck. Time to invest in some engineering and architecture classes._

Colin ran out of the warehouse and looked for a quick escape. His eyes fell on a fire escape. Colin weighed suffering the cliché of using rooftops as a hero with possibly being forcibly recruited into a white-supremacist organization. He looked back towards the warehouse.

* * *

Climbing up to the roof was easy. Bearing the shame of becoming the protagonist of every PHO Roleplay and Quest by doing previous action was not quite as easy. Colin tried his best to ignore the urge to throw himself off the roof as he peered down on the street. He stayed silent as he watched several gang members walk towards shopfronts and walls and vandalized them. Stormtiger and Othala didn't participate, instead standing together to make what looked like a call. At this angle Colin couldn't even make out their mouths moving, though given how their heads tilted together and occasionally nodded Colin could make an educated guess.

All of this activity was interrupted when one of the gang members let out a strangled scream. The man ran towards where Stormtiger and Othala were standing, incoherently yelling when a dagger buried itself in his neck. Colin looked up to see Oni Lee staring straight at him from across the street. He felt a shiver run down his spine when he matched the serial killer's stare, trying his best not to look away. All other sounds and light were tuned out as he matched the psycho bomber's stare. Finally, the man seemed to look satisfied and nodded. Colin's felt his heart leap up into his throat when Oni Lee crumbled into ash.

Colin whipped his head around where he was hiding, terrified that Oni Lee was about to bury a knife into his neck. His efforts stopped when he heard panicked shouting and fighting below him. Colin turned back to the street and froze.

Already there was blood pooling on the sidewalk as Oni Lee scythed destruction and death with every teleport. Colin's eyes strained as he tried to track where Oni Lee went. Stormtiger and Othala were shouting incomprehensibly, somehow sounding both panicked and prepared. Colin hunkered down when he saw Othala reach out to touch Stormtiger. There was a short exchange between the two, and then Colin saw an incredible vortex of air and power gather around Stormtiger's hands. When Stormtiger punched towards where Oni Lee presumably was, Colin made himself as flat as possible against the rooftop.

The attack was deafening. Though Colin could come up with a litany of words to try and describe what Stormtiger had done, he felt 'destructive' was the most appropriate. Stormtiger let loosed what sounded, and felt like, a compressed hurricane down the street. When Colin peaked over the roof, he bore witness to the destruction Stormtiger had wrought. Every single window in the street had simply vanished, glass shards not even present. Pavement was ripped up where the attack passed over directly, and Colin swore that several buildings were now leaning towards the street. His eye twitched as he tried to understand what Stormtiger had just done. Perhaps the villain created an extreme pressure difference and directed the resulting vortex forward? Or had Othala's influence caused something completely different?

Seeing the aftereffects made Colin shudder. Imagine having to fight things like _that_ on a daily basis. Colin was about to turn away and run when he heard an unmistakable chuckle ring through the street.

_No_. There was _no_ way Oni Lee was still standing. But when Colin looked to the source of the laugh, he saw the dreaded suicide bomber casually standing on top of a ruined car. Suddenly self-conscious, Colin wondered why exactly he was staying put. Yes, well, this is frankly amazing to witness. But every extra second he spent here was a second where he could be struck by a piece of debris or brutally murdered. At that, logic and reason finally returned to Colin. Colin began to back away from the fight.

Though Stormtiger's massive tempest blasts were harrowing to hear, and even moreso to physically experience, since the relatively safety of the roof was far removed from Stormtiger's intended target Colin didn't have to as dramatically bunker down as he did initially. As Colin contemplated either descending from the rooftop and escaping via back alleys or trying to traverse other rooftops, he saw a flash of light in the corner of his eye. Colin turned to look, and saw a sight he only saw on TV or in news clips. Dauntless, Brockton Bay's own Hellenistic hero, flew in. Colin moved back to the roof's ledge. He couldn't miss this.

Seeing the Protectorate intervene this quickly was not an uncommon occurrence, though seeing the responder in this case be Dauntless was. Normally Advance or Velocity would respond first, if not neutralizing the threat entirely then buying enough time for the rest of the local Protectorate to arrive. Seeing a heavy hitter arrive so early could potentially change the outcome of this fight.

Colin dug several of his blades into the roof for handholds but kept several free floating just in case he needed to make a quick escape. Dauntless fighting Oni Lee, Stormtiger and Othala definitely won't be a clean fight.

From the beginning Dauntless held his shield aloft, ready to parry any opening attacks. His caution paid off when Stormtiger quickly fired off a pair of air streams. Though lacking the incredible power Stormtiger's Othala-enhanced tempests did before, Colin still couldn't track the attack with his eyes. It slammed into Dauntless' raised shield with a small pop, and Colin could see the Trojan hero get pushed back in the air.

Oni Lee was not idle, and made several aggressive probes at Othala's defence. Stormtiger did his best to fend off the advances, but it was obvious that his power was not well suited to fighting the agile ninja. There was cursing loud enough that even Colin could hear it, then commands telling Othala to call for backup. Colin startled, furtively looking back and forth the street. If every faction fighting was calling for backup, then there was only one person that Oni Lee could potentially call upon. If Lung came..

Colin had to abandon that train of worry as he saw Dauntless leap towards Stormtiger. The Trojan swept his Arclance from side to side, but Stormtiger was having none of it. The aerokinetic used a strong gust to make distance between the two, after getting a few good swipes in. Shaken, but not stunned, Dauntless made to follow. Unfortunately, Oni Lee jumped between the two, and then pulled the pins on his eponymous grenade bandolier

Colin winced as he saw Dauntless get blown back, flipping several times in the air before reorienting himself. Colin could see scuff marks on the man's armor and other clothing, and grinned when he realised this was confirmation that the hero was enhancing his own armor. Stormtiger was not so lucky and Colin could see several burns and gashes on the man's body. Othala gestured for Stormtiger to come down, and Colin could see the indecision in the man's body language. Obviously, he wanted revenge against Oni Lee.

Unfortunately, Stormtiger would never get the time to deliberate on whether he should or shouldn't desist from the fight. Behind Dauntless, Advance was rapidly approaching. In his hands was a strange variation of Advance's usual weapon, long barrelled and bulkier than it usually was. Advance fired several shots at Stormtiger, warding the aerokinetic off so the Tinker could land below Dauntless. The arrival of the leader of the Brockton Bay Protectorate made it obvious that prolonging the fight would end very poorly for its villainous participants. The villains all realised this and began to desist. Stormtiger made a wide gust of air to keep Advance and Dauntless stay at a distance, whereas Oni Lee disappeared entirely. Colin watched the Empire villains escape in the cars they had arrived in, and found himself annoyed that they were allowed to escape so easily by Advance, who had raised his hand to stop Dauntless from pursuing.

Colin stood up from his position on the roof, pulling out the knives he had dug in in the same movement. Colin's legs were shaking slightly from witnessing the power being thrown around. If he had been hit by that massive attack while not wearing any armor.

His morbid thoughts were interrupted when he heard someone flying towards him. His mind jumped to listing all the parahumans that could fly in Brockton Bay, but he felt the sudden panic leave him as he realised that aside from Purity, all of Brockton Bay's fliers were heroic. He looked up to see Advance flying towards him, Dauntless not too far behind. Colin quickly motioned for his blades to angle down, not wanting to make a hostile impression on Dauntless. Now that they were close enough that they could hear each other, Advance yelled, "Hey kid! I thought that was you. You see the entire fight?"

When Colin answered in the affirmative, Advance nodded and asked "I was wondering if you could tell me what exactly had happened? The Director is going to kill me if I don't have much for the AAR."

Colin's mind filled him in on what the acronym meant, and then he nodded. He reiterated the events of the prolonged fight he witnessed, and tried to explain the scale Stormtiger's massive tempest had destroyed.

After he was done explaining, Advance raised his hand up in a thinking gesture. Dauntless stood beside Advance, looking at Colin, and more importantly his blades, in an interested manner. He pointed at Colin, and asked Advance, "This is the kid tha-"

Advance cut him off, saying "Yea don't flatter the kid. _Shit_. If this is what Othala could do with _only_ Stormtiger, think about what she could do with, I don't know, Crusader or even Kaiser. Damn. Thanks for the warning, kid. What were you doing out here, anyway?"

Colin began to stutter, trying to think of a way to not lie to his idol when Advance shook his head and said "You know what, I guess it doesn't really matter, does it? Good going with the blades kid. Really cool. I'm just going to say though, unless you know how to punch or even properly stand, it isn't going to be much. "

Colin's face flushed as he remembered the humiliation he had been dealt by _Trainwreck_ of all people, and tried to bury his anger. Advance saw through his façade and said "Hey, it's fine. Just pop by the Rig-wait uh, here I'll give you a card. Call this number and I'll fly you over to the Rig. I'll show you some moves that you can use to improve."

Colin looked dumbly at the card he had just been given, still struggling that he had been invited to the Rig to be personally trained by the Protectorate's greatest Tinker. He struggled to find the words to properly express his gratitude, but all he could choke out was a measly "Thank you."

Dauntless and Advance shared a look that Colin couldn't decipher, but when Advance asked Dauntless 'whether or not he had just heard that report', Colin realised that they were listening to something in their radios. Colin fidgeted with one of his blades, and startled when Dauntless jumped up into the air. Advance patted him on the shoulder and said "Sorry kid, but we've gotta go. _Damn_. Lung's fighting with the bulk of the Empire Downtown. If I'm hearing this right then _everyone's_ there. New Wave, the Merchants, the Downtown Punks, even a few rogues. Already a few people are down."

Colin froze when he heard Downtown. That was where both his parents worked. Where he lived. If Lung was going on a rampage then everyone was in danger, not just his parents. He quickly gathered his blades together, and begged Advance, "Please, take me with you. I can't-my parents- Lung"

Advance pulled his hands up on a slowing gesture, warning "Are you kidding? This is Lung we're talking about. You know, the guy that could fight all of the Protectorate together? I don't think you want to be there for this, especially since you only have your flying knives. Kid, I seriously can't let you go there. Remember, pick your fights."

Colin felt anger burst inside him at the crimson hero trying to bar him from protecting his city. His anger surged up, and he growled "My parents might die because of Lung. I can't even count the number of people that might die because of Lung. I'l leave the big bastard to you guys. I'll just deal with the other gangs that show up. I _need_ to help with this."

Advance stopped as he saw the anger, the desperation, in the kid's eyes. His mind flickered back to so _many_ fights, and the feeling that he could've done more. He tried to imagine what it would feel like if he hadn't even fought. He looked back into young Tinker's eyes. Now, he saw nothing but resolve. He knew that if he didn't take the kid then he would find some way to make it to Downtown. Advance nodded, and held his arm out for the kid to grab onto. Advance handed him a spare earbud, and said "If you really want to help out here, then you're going to need a name."

Colin had never wanted to be a hero. His own plans were often just throw blades and run as fast as he could. But when his home was in danger, his parents, and countless other people, he couldn't stand back.

Colin looked at Advance in the eyes and said,

"Bladesurge"

**AN:**

HELL YEA HERE WE GO

What do you mean I have other fics I haven't updated? There are no other fics I haven't updated!

Pshhh as if I would update one fic only while leaving others neglected

As if

…

Look writing is hard okie?


	4. Chapter 4

As Colin was carried towards the Docks, he contemplated his capabilities. He still felt the conviction he had felt when begging to go to the Docks with Advance and Dauntless, but the reality was that Colin only had seventeen flying blades in total, and no combat experience to speak of. He was going into this completely new, and Colin was truthfully scared. Even if he was going to stay far away from Lung it still meant he might fight monsters like Hookwolf.

The flight was quiet, the two seasoned heroes quietly preparing to fight what is often referred to as Brocton Bay's worst nightmare. Advance had introduced Colin on the radio, and after a short explanation of his origins and capabilities was instructed to drop Colin off where he could support Aegis, Clockblocker, and Vista. Colin overheard all this and reminded himself what exactly their powers were. He wondered where Triumph was but reasoned that the Wards captain could possibly be working with some other heroes in another part of the city.

Colin was given a rundown of all the confirmed parahumans who were fighting, and their affiliations. He shuddered while hearing the sheer numbers the Empire was fielding, wondering how exactly they had managed to recruit over twelve parahumans to their cause. He was briefed on the situation he was dropping into and did his best to memorize it. Mush, a Shifter whose body could grab onto nearby objects and make a sort of armor, was fighting with Rune, a teenaged Empire cape who could mark objects and move them and causing large amounts of collateral damage. More recent news claimed that Rupture, the Downtown Punk's Striker who could cause inorganic material to explode, had joined in and caused two buildings to collapse. Aegis, Vista and Clockblocker had been dispatched in hopes of limiting the damage caused. Already, Colin could see that the PRT was hoping that with Clockblocker they could capture at least one parahuman, though given how all three villains had some means of escape or movement it would be unlikely.

Finally, Advance set Colin down in the middle of the street, and reminded him, "Stay alive, alright? The fight's a little bit ahead. I've got to get to Lung before he gets too big for my Anti-Lung module to work. Do good work"

Colin watched the hero fly away and turned back to where the fight was occurring. Still afraid, but a little less unsure of himself, Colin started jogging.

* * *

The first part of the fight Colin saw was a few walls destroyed and cares crushed. He continued running, but as he progressed, he saw more and more destruction. By now everyone had already evacuated from the area, so Colin was unobstructed as he moved closer and closer. When he finally arrived, he paused so he could fully understand the situation. Mush at this point had grown over seven feet tall and had the size to match. Large amounts of debris had been turned into makeshift armor and Colin felt a similar helplessness he felt when thinking about fighting Trainwreck. Rune, on the other hand, was floating high up in the air while she used two large slabs of concrete to try and crush Mush. Finally, Rupture was causing large amounts of destruction as he made the ground beneath Mush explode. Colin didn't know the exact specifics of Rupture's power, but he realized that if a Striker could utilize range then being aware and well prepared had just became all the more important.

He saw Aegis grappling with Mush and disrupting Rupture, while Vista and Clockblocker tried to work in tandem to freeze Rune. The latter's efforts hadn't been fruitful just yet, though Colin could see that taking Rune out of the fight could give Aegis a large amount of breathing room. Colin weighed his options, and then moved to help Aegis in engaging Mush and Rupture. He could at the very least jam a few knives between debris and let Aegis rest a little.

Colin ran forward and took special note of where Rupture was standing. So far, the man hadn't taken notice of him, which represented a special opportunity. If he used the blunt edges of his knives, then he could potentially surprise the Striker and take him out early. Colin looked between Mush and Aegis, and this new opportunity. Aegis could grapple for a little bit longer. Rupture was never an easy target to catch out, and if he managed this then it would help him gain a lot of credibility.

Colin ducked by a half-crushed car and sized up Rupture. He was a relatively short man, a few inches shorter than Colin. The demolition-themed man wore a bandolier of grenades, though with his power Colin wondered what functionality it actually had. Colin could see the man's power flare up momentarily as he struck the ground, before a bright blue line snaked towards Mush and caused a large explosion under him. Evidently, the man had little regard for Aegis, who had been blown away by the blast. Colin carefully angled his blades, and then struck.

A single hand gesture sent a hail of blades towards Rupture, all approaching from different angles. The man had dismissed the first few, believing it was simply oddly shaped rubble that Rune was manipulating. But when he saw more and more knives glint towards him, Rupture finally realized he was under attack. He struck the ground below him and caused an explosion which deterred the closest knives. Colin had anticipated something like this and had staggered the knives so not all would be knocked away. Several highspeed knives slammed into Demo-Man's head, the blunt edges throwing him forward onto his knees.

The man was stunned, that much was obvious. Colin hesitated, wondering if his next move was too much, but looked back to where Aegis had been blown back to. The Ward was still leaning against debris, his body rapidly patching him back together as he watched the fight. His resolve tightened, and Colin motioned his hands downward. Immediately, all the floating blades stabbed down into the ground. He saw Rupture whip his head back and forth in confusion as Colin clenched his fist. Electricity arced between his blades, the handles serving as nodes to direct the energy back and forth. Colin had specifically looked into stun guns and tasers, making sure that the energy input wouldn't seriously injure someone. Demo-Man convulsed, and fell to the ground, unconscious.

Colin stood up from where he had been crouching, and slowly approached the fallen man. Had he just..? Did he just take down a villain? Colin cautiously touched Rupture and got no reaction at all. The man was actually unconscious because of Colin! He felt a small burst of elation as he realized his Tinkertech was combat functional and had proof directly before his eyes. He jumped as a gloved hand reached over his shoulder and touched Rupture on his hand. Colin whipped around and saw his reflection on a completely white visor. Rather than startle, Colin relaxed as he realized it was Clockblocker, one of the Wards he had been sent to assist. After freezing Rupture, Clockblocker nodded towards Colin and asked, "I take it you're Bladesurge, right? Thanks for getting Rapture here, couldn't get near him without getting blown up. I'll introduce you to Vista later", pointing back to a rooftop where Colin could see Vista waving, "because we have Mush and Rune to deal with. I'll call in Rapture-see you"

Clockblocker was now once again back on the rooftop with Vista, traversing the distance in less than a step. Colin shook his head at Vista's incredible Shaker power, before for where Aegis was now.

Colin found the Brute once again grappling with Mush, who had been trying to throw debris back at Rune. Aegis was working on pummeling Mush into unconsciousness, his punches actually cracking the cement blocks the Merchant used as a helmet. Colin was quietly surprised at Aegis' brute strength but was broken out of his reverie when Mush grabbed Aegis and threw him once again into a wall. The Merchant discarded his cracked plating, and then did something that completely surprised Colin. The Merchant leaned his head into one of the concrete slabs that Rune was controlling, and then ripped it from the air, adding to his armor. From Rune's cursing Colin realized that Mush had actually ripped control away from Rune, and he was quietly surprised that the amorphous junkie could utilize his powers so.

Aegis came flying back, and then was immediately backhanded by Mush, who had managed to grow even taller. Colin realized now was the time to act, or else Mush would grow too large for him to fight. He reached out with his blades and swiped to his left. The blades followed his movements and snaked out, cutting a small groove into Mush's armor. Exasperated, Colin did so again, hoping that he could find a weakness.

The fight continued, with Aegis wailing on Mush until the large man got annoyed and backhanded the flying teen away. Colin jammed blades into whatever cracks he could make, slowly turning Mush into a pincushion. Mush for his part continued to throw rocks at Rune and destroy property, whereas Rune was now solely focused on avoiding Clockblocker and Vista. When Colin jammed the last blade into Mush's armor, he motioned Aegis to back off. The flying hero had seen what Colin had been doing, though he had no idea what the Tinker was going to do. Colin clenched his fist to activate his blade's secondary function.

Just like when it was used on Rupture, electricity arced between and through the blades, turning Mush into mush and knocking the man out. Or at least, that was what was supposed to happen. Instead, Mush grew _larger_, and pulled even more debris into his body. Mush finally turned and regarded Colin, the first time the giant man had even looked at him this fight. There was a bloodthirsty grin on his face, and Colin could tell he had just royally fucked up. Mush began to charge towards Colin, and the aforementioned teen began to sprint for his life.

* * *

Colin panted next to a car. The trash fueled villain had lost track of Colin after a short chase and had lumbered off to do more damage. Explanations and expletives rang through Colin's mind, mainly regarding Mush's abilities. The Merchant was completely unaffected by what might be his strongest attack. Colin's mind raced to find some sort of counter to his ability, but asides from making some sort of bladestorm to slice through Mush's armor and his body, Colin had nothing. Wait-Colin had technically already broken through something like Mush's armor before. When he was escaping the warehouse, he had used his blades to make an improvised exit. They had sawed through brick and cement with ease, and what else was Mush using as armor?

It would mean, however, that he would have to get close enough to Mush to touch him. His mind quickly snapped to a plan of action, raising his arm to communicate with the nearby Wards. "Vista, Aegis, are you there?"

There was a short burst of static, then a young girl's voice replied, "Aegis is currently patching himself back together after another hit from Mush. Nice to meet you Bladesurge. Anything you need?"

Colin cracked his neck and said, "I think I have a way for us to take Mush out."

There was silence on the line, then a raspy voice prompted him, "And? Could do with something to take this guy out. Pulling myself back together after every hit is kind of annoying"

Colin quickly outlined his plan, and through the following silence he could guess they were all considering his plan. Finally, Aegis said, his voice sounding less starved for air, "I'm all up for it. I'll go bother Rune. Vista, Clock, follow Bladesurge's plan."

Colin ran through the broken streets, trying to find where Mush had gone. He followed the path of destruction until he finally found the mountain of trash and debris, futilely tugging at one of its feet. Good. Clockblocker had already carried out his section of the plan, and now Colin had his own job to carry out. He looked for a way to jump onto Mush's shoulders but was interrupted by Vista's voice on the coms. "Go, I'll make it easy for you."

When Colin ran forward, he suddenly found himself on top of Mush's back. The man was still hunched over, trying to tug at its frozen foot, too busy to notice Colin. Carefully, Colin crept over to where he approximated Mush's head would be. He slowly ejected all the knives he had buried in Mush's body and drew them towards him. He tapped out a large circle in Mush's helmet, hopefully compromising its protective value completely. He clenched his fist and watched as his blades cut a neat hole in the top of Mush's helmet. Unfortunately, this process literally cut into Colin's time, and since this was directly next to Mush's ears the villain knew something was up. Mush stood up, and Colin was thrown from Mush's shoulders, though he got to witness Mush's helmet fall apart. Colin wondered where he would land, and whether or not he would survive. He felt fear-strong arms caught him, and Colin looked up to see Aegis carrying him. Colin involuntarily smiled and was put down on a roof next to Vista. Aegis flew back and began to pummel Mush's head. The now vulnerable raised his arms to try and swipe Aegis away, but he flew directly beyond the villain's reach, all the while yelling something about revenge. Aegis hit harder and harder, until suddenly all of Mush's protective armor fell off his body. The Merchant began to shrink, and it became obvious the man was knocked unconscious. Clockblocker, standing right next to Colin, let out a whoop and jumped over. He froze Mush after the man had reverted to a mostly normal size. Colin turned to Vista, who was smiling at the efficient defeat. Colin was about to give Vista a high-five when he remembered that there was a third member of this fight. He whipped his head back to look for Rune but was tapped on the forearm by Vista. "Aegis managed to weave between her attacks and captured her. Good plan there, Bladesurge. "

Embarrassed, Colin rubbed his head and nodded along. He didn't know how to respond to praise from real heroes like Vista, who had been a Ward for some time, or to celebrate alongside Clocbklocker and Aegis. All he had done was cut a few holes and recycle old technology. When Colin tried to state this Vista cut him off and said, "No-you contributed to this and you did good, alright?"

Colin watched with Vista as a PRT van pushed through debris and soldiers disembarked. Aegis flew over and motioned where the downed villains were. PRT soldiers with containment foam jogged over to each of the three villains, and then captured Mush, Rupture and Rune. The three villains were then carried, with the help of Aegis, to an even larger van that had appeared while Colin's back was turned. He watched as the villains were loaded, and then taken away to be processed. Clockblocker was carried back to the roof with Aegis, and the four stood together. The relatively clean capture was reported, and Colin heard happy undertones in the response. His own orders were quick and curt. Move to a new area and pacify the parahumans there. Colin understood.

**AN:**

_Nice_


End file.
